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CHICAGO — A historic all-female honor flight departed from Chicago’s Midway Airport Wednesday morning.

The 93 veterans, all with Illinois ties, will spend the day in Washington DC — touring memorials and monuments honoring their service.

The flight is called Operation HerStory. The female veterans arrived around 4 a.m. Wednesday and will return to Chicago around 8:30 p.m.

The honor flight began in 2005 and has flown thousands of vets to DC. This is the 98th flight from Chicago, but the first all-female honor flight.

Bette Horstman of Morton Grove will be on the flight. Horstman is 99-years-old, turning 100 in December. She spent 18-months in the South Pacific as a physical therapist and is still working today.

Another World War II veteran on the flight is turning 105 next week.